Your mind-blowing chart of the day, courtesy of Arne Jungjohann at the Heinrich Böll Foundation. Source for U.S. use; source for German use; used U.S. average household size of 2.6. Continue reading
We have brought you news about DC-Net before and have even highlighted the community network in our report, Breaking the Broadband Monopoly. Now we want to draw your attention to some videos they have produced. Free WiFi hotspots all over town, secure indoor WiFi for government staff, and hundreds of miles of fiber throughout town… Continue reading
Christopher Mitchell recently spoke with Marcie Sillman on Seattle public radio KUOW‘s Weekday. Christopher and Marcie talked on May 8, 2012 about recent developments in local and national broadband including the April 29th end to Seattle’s free Wi-Fi network. Christopher and Marcie spent some time on challenges and strategies involved in building a community network…. Continue reading
Christopher Mitchell recently presented at the Broadband Communities Summit 12 in Dallas, Texas. The two-day event, April 24th and 25th, brought together experts from all over the world to discuss the policy and economic challenges and achievements in broadband. Christopher discussed the new ILSR Report, Broadband at the Speed of Light, and presented information on… Continue reading
A new ranking of states based on “small business friendliness” gives low scores to those with more stringent environmental, labor, health & safety, and other regulations. The trouble with this analysis, however, is that many of the supposedly “unfriendly” states are actually home to much larger numbers of small businesses than the “friendly” states. Continue reading
After winning the Illinois primary, Mitt Romney delivered a victory speech in which he deplored America’s lost “can do spirit”. Unsurprisingly, he blamed it on government. If elected he promised, “We’re going to get government out of the way”. Then he offered a few examples of what he meant. “We once built the interstate highway… Continue reading
In lieu of smarter policy, schools, libraries, and city buildings hoping to install solar power have to resort to complex public-private partnerships to access federal tax incentives. One common strategy is the power purchase agreement (PPA). In essence, a PPA allows the public building owner to buy solar electricity on contract from a third party… Continue reading
If you haven’t heard yet, there’s a “rule” that precludes distributed renewable energy projects from supplying more than 15% of the power to most “distribution circuits” (part of the low-voltage electric grid that brings power into homes and businesses). With the rapidly falling cost of solar power, many places in the country are starting to… Continue reading
In 2005, Seattle started offering free Wi-Fi to several neighborhoods, hoping to increase usage among businesses, residents, and passers-by. While the effort was hailed by some, and criticized by others, it was an experiment in community broadband. An experiment that ended on April 29th. The City still considered the free Wi-Fi a pilot project, even… Continue reading
We told you how Chanute, Kansas, was using their community network to serve local businesses. Now we want to share a story about how the community network helped bring a new business to Chanute. Chanute, who is named after Octave Chanute an aviation pioneer, adopts the motto “A Tadition of Innovation.” Chanute has proven that… Continue reading
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